Abstract
Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS) is an advanced engineering test satellite developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to carry out the inter-satellite laser communication experiments in orbit. It was launched into low earth sun-synchronous orbit in August 2005. On 9th December, 2005, the first bi-directional laser communications link between the OICETS and European Space Agency’s geostationary satellite ARTEMIS was successfully established. The inter-orbit laser link experiments were successfully conducted over a period of six months since December 2005. The authors conducted the experiment more than 100 times during the experiment campaign. Acquisition sequence, tracking performance and bit error characteristics were measured and evaluated. These results show the acquisition probability was more than 90% and the bit error rate were less than 10-6. In-orbit experiment results indicate the possibility of establishing inter-satellite laser communication. This paper describes in-orbit experiment results of the inter-satellite laser communication.
